Posts Tagged ‘Sicilia’

We were on our way to a friend’s party, a fun and frolicking potluck. We live in San Francisco area and this is going to be a VERY international group (and a LOT of fun). Most of the people at the party drink very little wine but the host has declared, “This is a wine themed party!”

We decide that we will bring a wine within reach, something very approachable both from cost and taste. We are looking for a soft wine that comes in an attractive bottle.

The people work with number (accountants, etc.) but aspire to be Party Animals . . . they certainly get enthusiastic about these events!

The party is at night here in the San Francisco Bay Area and the night will be cold. The food will come with many different spices, the piquant (hot) of Thai and Indonesian, the garlic of Italian, the fish sauce of Vietnamese and heavy creams of Europe. We decide a red with a tiny bit of pepper (hot like black pepper rather than vegetable like green peppers / capsicum). It should be ready to drink and not offend anyone! We hope by buying a wine under $5/bottle we can encourage people to discover wine. We know the people will drink only a few glasses so we want our contribution to be a nice experience!

Archeo’s Nero d’Avola by Ruggero di Tasso certianly meets the bill. It drinks well right after opening and goes down softly. The bottle is beautiful, tall and stately with a gold label. The wine is intensely red but smooth a very mild aftertaste (what wine people call finish).

How do we pick our wine?

We limit our reviews to 2 categories:
- Wine under $5/bottle
- Unusual liquor
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We select our wine from large retailers of wine:
- Trader Joe's
- BevMo
- Safeway
- CVS and Rite Aid
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We select 2nd and 3rd tier national brands. We skip big varietals major brands since they have already are well covered. We do make an exception for small runs from a larger winery (such as Sutter Home White Zinfandel)

We try to make sure they are in regular production and not 'excess' from a major vintner which can be a very limited run.
This means we tend towards varieties that are different.

The other item we cover are distilled liquor not covered on other sites. Recently we covered Chinese overproof (100+) white lightning, a raw distilled spirit of questionable provenance. This is not covered. Earlier we covered Newfie Screech, a Canadian distilled spirit made by putting distilled fermented beet juice into abandoned Port and Sherry kegs and leaving on the beach of Newfoundland for several months.

Picking a wine – anywhere, anytime!

Need a bottle for something? Many times I don't speak the language & can't read the label!

Most markets and stores have 300 wines. The clerks' can use a box cutter and a bar code reader.

QUESTION: How can get a decent wine?

ANSWER: - Look for 3 things:

1.) Price! This is IMPORTANT! Scan the selves, look for the cheapest wine and add a couple of bucks. If you want higher end double the number!

2.) Next - heavy or light? - Heavy alcohol is 12%+ and light is 11% or less. If it's cold or a young crowd go heavy, if it's warm or older crowd go light. We're now down to say 20 bottles (some will fall in the middle).

3.) "It Factor" - Look at the BACK of bottle. Is there an essay on the wine, picture of wine maker?) GREAT! The people making are proud of their product! Usually any of these is good.

Eyeball them and pick the one that strikes your fancy!!

========>>> SHORTCUT! Look at people's shopping carts, if you see several people with the same wine - that's likely a good wine!